You are listening to the Horse radio network, part of the Equine Network family.
Speaker BThis is episode 755 of the Dressage radio show on the Horse radio network, brought to you by Kentucky performance Products.
Speaker COn today's show, we go behind the scenes at the 2024 dressage at Devon with Lauren Chumley and Kimmy Poulen.
Speaker CThen we had a great conversation with Jennifer Tillo on rider biomechanics for all types of riders.
Speaker BThis is Reese Koepler Stanfield in Georgetown.
Speaker CKentucky, and I am Megan McIsaac from Oregon, Wisconsin, and you're listening to the dressage radio show.
Speaker BHi, Megan.
Speaker BHow are you tonight?
Speaker CHey, Reese.
Speaker CI'm crazy.
Speaker CI'm getting ready for regionals.
Speaker BI know.
Speaker BSee, we.
Speaker BI had this panic, like, last month, and now it's your turn.
Speaker BSo what are you.
Speaker BI know.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BWhat are you guys up to?
Speaker CSo, we just had a warm up show to get the.
Speaker CThe dust off the boots, and I just kind of wanted to give a little tip out to everyone.
Speaker CDo not bring new products.
Speaker CDo not change the tack.
Speaker CDon't do anything new.
Speaker CKeep it the same, girl.
Speaker BPreach it.
Speaker BOh, my God.
Speaker BThat's, like, my.
Speaker BMy biggest pet peeve is when someone's like, I brought a new.
Speaker BAh.
Speaker AWhat?
Speaker CDon't do it.
Speaker BDon't even.
Speaker BA saddle pad.
Speaker BLike, I'm, like, riding it before.
Speaker BI know you think it'll be okay, but what if it isn't and it's different and it is not and it's not okay?
Speaker BNo, I'm totally with you.
Speaker CSo, I had three horses.
Speaker CMy grand Prix horse is.
Speaker CIt gave me the ride that I want to have at regionals.
Speaker BYeah, buddy.
Speaker CSo that was fantastic.
Speaker CI'm figuring out my hot, spicy mare.
Speaker CThat's my small tour horse.
Speaker BLove it.
Speaker CAnd then, unfortunately, my little baby horse got new product and broke out in hives, so we had a pretty rough show.
Speaker BOh, no.
Speaker BYeah, you know what?
Speaker BThat's a thing.
Speaker BNew products, because you never know if they will have an allergy or something.
Speaker CNothing like, you don't know.
Speaker BSame products.
Speaker BI mean, I.
Speaker BYeah, I'm like, use the same soap.
Speaker BLike, I'm really weird about it, too.
Speaker COh, I'm superstitious.
Speaker CSo, Wednesday, we leave for regionals.
Speaker CWe're going to Missouri.
Speaker CThe truck is going in for an oil change.
Speaker CI'm checking the tires, and then we pack.
Speaker CSo I'm a little crazy right now.
Speaker CNot with it.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BYeah, you're crazy.
Speaker BI get it.
Speaker BI get it.
Speaker BWe got lucky because it was just down the street.
Speaker BSo we're good.
Speaker BSo everything here, I'd like to say it settled down.
Speaker BThis week's a little bit easier, but we're getting ready for the thoroughbred makeover here, here in Lexington.
Speaker BSo that's next week.
Speaker BSo same thing.
Speaker BLike, obviously our hearts are going out to everyone in the hurricane and North Carolina and Tennessee.
Speaker BWe had some hurricane damage here, but obviously nothing.
Speaker BWe lost some trees.
Speaker BI haven't actually, I don't think ever at my farm have I taken a day off for a weather event like that, other than like, really cold weather or something.
Speaker BBut, I mean, it was crazy windy.
Speaker BSo we're really sending our prayers to everyone in North Carolina and our listeners, please know that we're here.
Speaker BAnd I, you know, we were talking before the show.
Speaker BThere's lots of charities there to donate.
Speaker BI actually donate to world central kitchen.
Speaker BI always have.
Speaker BSo I sent some donations there.
Speaker BI think that's a fantastic organization.
Speaker BSo there's lots of organizations that are there on the ground and we're sending our love there.
Speaker BSo please know that we're doing that.
Speaker BWe're talking about a horse showing.
Speaker BBut I had horses that had gone to an event in South Carolina and got stranded.
Speaker BI mean, it was, it's just been crazy.
Speaker BYeah, there was an event here, and I think that does go to the question of.
Speaker BAnd it was tough.
Speaker BIt was, it was hard because it was our championships for the Avengers last weekend.
Speaker BI just talked.
Speaker BI had, I had four riders to go and I just said, listen, I mean, this is, this is crazy.
Speaker BThey did not cancel.
Speaker BThey canceled the cross country, but we had really bad wins here on Friday.
Speaker BAnd I just told him, I said, look, I.
Speaker BIf it's me, I'm not.
Speaker BIt's.
Speaker BRibbon isn't worth it in a natural disaster.
Speaker BSo always take a deep breath.
Speaker BThat's where your coach comes in.
Speaker BI mean, it's tough.
Speaker BYou've worked for it all year, but our footing in that part of the horse park isn't great.
Speaker BAnd honestly, just having a trailer out and the amount of trees that we're falling, like, I, we brought, we had our horses in by 08:00 like, it got started getting really windy.
Speaker BIt was supposed to come in at nine, but around eight things were flying around and, and we brought our horses in and we were able to do that.
Speaker BSo, yes, just, it was tough, but I think that's the other tip is like, really, if a natural disaster is coming, it's a horse show, you know, really safety first.
Speaker BAnd so my horses are all happy sound.
Speaker BThey didn't go you know, I think the riders, you know, it was so bad at the end of the day, they were glad they didn't go, but it was, it was hard.
Speaker BSo, so anyways, that, that's the not fun part of last weekend, but we do wish everybody well.
Speaker BWe can't wait to hear about your show.
Speaker BI love that tip.
Speaker BIt's true.
Speaker BDon't use anything new tech equipment.
Speaker GDon't do it.
Speaker GDon't do it.
Speaker CDon't do it, people.
Speaker BDon't do it.
Speaker BSo I love it.
Speaker BSo it's fantastic.
Speaker BSo also a couple other things.
Speaker BThe USDF convention is happening in Houston.
Speaker EYes.
Speaker BMegan and I are going to be there and we're really excited.
Speaker BSo the registration, I got an email today is open now for anybody that wants to come join us at convention.
Speaker BWe're going to do some stuff with the book club and we have a very exciting announcement, USTF book club that was recently launched.
Speaker BWe have done an interview with Nancy Jaffers here on our show.
Speaker BBut the first webinar for the book club is coming October 8 at 08:00 p.m.
Speaker Bif you have any information, I am literally getting this from the USDF Facebook page and come join us.
Speaker BWe will love having everyone join us for the book club.
Speaker BAnd we have a new book, right, Megan, what's our new book for the book club?
Speaker CIt is Janet Foy's dressage for the not so perfect horse.
Speaker CI'm really excited to read this book.
Speaker BYeah, we are excited.
Speaker BWe're going to be, that'll be what we'll be leading when we are at convention.
Speaker BAnd you also get to meet Megan and I and chat with us.
Speaker BSo we're really looking forward to it.
Speaker BSo we have a great show for you guys tonight.
Speaker BWe hope you enjoy.
Speaker BWe have lots of fun riders right after this break from Kentucky performance products.
Speaker FThis nutritional minute is brought to you by Kentucky performance products.
Speaker FOne of the most common mistakes seen in feeding programs is the underfeeding of commercial concentrates.
Speaker FCommercial concentrates are textured or pelleted feeds that provide energy, protein, vitamins and minerals.
Speaker FSome common manufacturers are triple crown neutrino purina.
Speaker FYou get the idea.
Speaker FEvery commercial feed has a minimum amount.
Speaker FYou must feed in order to meet a horse's daily vitamin and mineral requirements.
Speaker FFor most commercial concentrates, that level is somewhere between four to six pounds per day.
Speaker FA lot of horses will get too fat consuming feed at that level, so owners and barn managers feed less.
Speaker FAnd rightly so.
Speaker FIt's not healthy for a horse to get too fat.
Speaker FHowever, if you are feeding less than the recommended minimum amount to your horse, you are not providing your horse with adequate nutrition.
Speaker FMicrophase vitamin and mineral supplement from Kentucky performance products can solve your problem.
Speaker FMicrophase can be added to the diet as needed to fill in the nutritional gaps.
Speaker FPacked with nutrients but low in calories, you can adjust the feeding level of microphase to meet your horse's requirements.
Speaker FLearn more about microphase by visiting kppusa.com.
Speaker Fgot questions about your feeding program?
Speaker FWe can help.
Speaker FEmail karen@questionsppusa.com or call us at.
Speaker BWell, our first guest tonight is Lauren Chumley.
Speaker BAnd like she said in our pre game, she said, oh, we've known each other for 100 years and we have known each other a very long time.
Speaker BShe's from Cincinnati, Ohio, and she is going to tell you all about her amazing summer and at time at festival and dressage at Devon.
Speaker BWell, tonight we are so excited to have Lauren Chumley back on the show to hear about her crazy girl summer.
Speaker BHi, Lauren.
Speaker BWelcome to the show.
Speaker AHey, what's up?
Speaker BOh, my gosh, girl.
Speaker BI mean, obviously, I have been.
Speaker BI can't even follow you anymore.
Speaker BYou have been all over the place.
Speaker BFirst of all, tell everybody a little bit about yourself.
Speaker AWell, let's see.
Speaker AI grew up in Cincinnati, where I methadore Reese.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker AA million years ago, we were kids.
Speaker AYou were doing young riders, and I was doing training level test four in a really wicked chair seat.
Speaker AIt was a good time.
Speaker BOn a third track.
Speaker AYep.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BLook at where we are now.
Speaker AWhere even are we?
Speaker AWhere even are we?
Speaker BI love it.
Speaker AOh, God.
Speaker ASo now I'm in New Jersey.
Speaker AI've been in Jersey for like 18 years or something.
Speaker ACrazy.
Speaker BWow.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BYou moved there for a working student job, right?
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AI got hired as Silke's assistant trainer, and I was with her for four years.
Speaker AAnd then I went out on my own, which, I don't know, that seemed like a good idea at the time, but, like, what was I thinking?
Speaker AAnd I'm still, like, trying to figure that out.
Speaker AI was like, who's gonna pay for the toilet paper?
Speaker AOh, it's me, right?
Speaker AI have to.
Speaker ASo, yeah.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker ASo I'm out here trying to be a horse trainer, and we do a lot of, we do a lot of attempted horse training.
Speaker AI show some horses sometimes and we do a lot of sales.
Speaker AAnd I have a huge working student program because I love to help young professionals because I just think they're really cool and it's the future of the sport.
Speaker AAnd I think we really have to focus on how to train young horses to grand Prix in this country.
Speaker ASo that's kind of my dream and my goal.
Speaker AAnd sometimes they make some money, but not a whole lot.
Speaker ABut I do have a lot of fun.
Speaker BYou and this summer, you have had quite a lot of fun.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AYeah, we had.
Speaker AThis is a crazy summer.
Speaker AI've had, like, a really cool year, actually, and started out in Florida, and it's just kind of kept rolling and it's been super fun.
Speaker BTell us about your cool year.
Speaker AWell, in Florida, so I got.
Speaker AThey put me on the emerging horse list, and my older mare is now on the development list.
Speaker ASo I got, like, double listed, which is pretty cool when you're used to riding third bridge from Ohio and you're like, okay, this is cool.
Speaker ASo, you know, I had a little bit, you know, I did a lot of training this winter with.
Speaker AOn my row with Michael Bragdell, and it was great because he was, you know, 25 minutes away.
Speaker ASo I rode with him.
Speaker AI had, like, six lessons a week with different horses because I have a whole string of horses that are all, you know, we bought them all as foals.
Speaker AWe started them, and now they're all, you know, they're all growing up.
Speaker ASo a few of them are at Grand Prix.
Speaker AWe got sort of small tour, fourth level, third level.
Speaker ALike, they're all over.
Speaker AIt's just been really, really fun.
Speaker ASo we got to work a whole lot with him this winter.
Speaker AI got to work with Christine Traurig and Charlotte Bradal, who was amazing.
Speaker AThey're both so helpful this winter.
Speaker ABeing on the development program has been amazing because you get access to this, like, amazing, incredible coaching.
Speaker CTell us how you get on the list for our listeners that may not know.
Speaker AWell, I've been doing in horses my whole life because, like a lot of people, there is no money to go buy an FBI horse.
Speaker AThere is still not money to do really anything.
Speaker AWe make it work.
Speaker ABut, yeah, so we were, you know, I was always riding young horses.
Speaker AAnd then I started to buy some babies because, you know, I'm really, really, really close friends with Alice Tarzan, and she was buying babies, and she's like, you gotta buy babies cause they're cheap, and then you can train them, and if they're not quite quality enough for what you need, you can sell them and make money.
Speaker AAnd I'm like, oh, that sounds easy.
Speaker ALike, I'll do that.
Speaker ASo I bought some babies, and I didn't sell them, I kept them.
Speaker AAnd now they're all at Fei, which is really cool.
Speaker AAnd then the first full I ever bought is the Lilu Dallas.
Speaker AThat's my first.
Speaker AI call her my oldest child.
Speaker AWe started her.
Speaker AI bought her off a video.
Speaker AI never go and see them.
Speaker AI just buy them.
Speaker AWow.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AOff their lines.
Speaker ABecause I kind of feel like you can't really go wrong.
Speaker AWhatever you get, you can train everything to Fei, and if it's not going to be what you need, you can always sell it and use that money to invest in something else and do it again.
Speaker ABut what you need is obviously depends on the individual.
Speaker ALike, I'm looking for something.
Speaker AI can do 70% CDI grand Prix eventually, but not everybody needs that.
Speaker AMaybe you just want to get a small tour and get your silver or do young riders or something.
Speaker ASo there's lots of goals.
Speaker ABut I figured I would just buy some lines that I liked.
Speaker AAnd I liked Lilius mechanic, and she was really cute.
Speaker AShe was black with four white socks.
Speaker AAnd I was like, that's perfect, right?
Speaker ALike, who doesn't want that, right?
Speaker AAnd so I started with her.
Speaker AIt was the first one, and she's been just really, really a great horse.
Speaker ALike, she's really cool.
Speaker AShe was not a big young horse winner.
Speaker AI did the young horse stuff with her because I think it's really good exposure for the horses, and it's always nice.
Speaker AYou know, you get as much press at Lamplight as you do winning a CDI at Global.
Speaker ASo I think it's a really good.
Speaker AI think it's a really good career thing to do is to do the young horses if you can.
Speaker AAnd I like the whole process of it.
Speaker AI like the feedback from the judges.
Speaker AI just like the whole thing, and I still do the young horse stuff.
Speaker ASo, you know, she wasn't a big winner at the young horse.
Speaker ALike, we didn't.
Speaker AI didn't even try at four because she wasn't really trained enough.
Speaker AAnd then at five, I don't.
Speaker AI didn't.
Speaker AI didn't go to lamplight with her at five.
Speaker AShe didn't make it.
Speaker AShe was like, rank, you know, 150th or something.
Speaker ALike, you know, because she's not, she's not a spectacular mover.
Speaker AYou know, she's got an oak, you know, an average walk, a pretty cool trot.
Speaker ALike, she had a good mechanic.
Speaker ASo I was like, that's kind of fun.
Speaker AMaybe that'll be cool.
Speaker AAnd then the canner is like, kind of not the best.
Speaker ABut I just kept training her, and we didn't make it to lamplight at six year olds.
Speaker AAnd we were dead last.
Speaker AWe were dead last because we were, like, four beating in the canner.
Speaker AAnd I was like, oh, this is probably not good, but we did it anyway.
Speaker AAnd we got.
Speaker AWe got a neck ribbon.
Speaker ASo that was fun.
Speaker AAnd then I went back at seven year olds last year and we were dead last.
Speaker AAnd, you know, I was fine.
Speaker AShe was green.
Speaker AIt was like 3000 degrees last year at lamplight.
Speaker BAnd she was awful.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd she's kind of, like, really round and kind of fat and black and hairy.
Speaker ASo she was like, it's hot.
Speaker ASo it was.
Speaker BIt was hot.
Speaker AI kind of like, come on, we gotta do it.
Speaker AWe did it.
Speaker AIt was not the best, but we did it.
Speaker AAnd then.
Speaker AAnd then this winter here, you know, we started last year, like, with the basics of Pia passage.
Speaker AI was like, oh, that's where you're gonna shine.
Speaker AThe Pia passage is like.
Speaker AIt's gonna be.
Speaker AIt's incredible.
Speaker AShe's such a good mechanic for Pia passage.
Speaker AAnd her, you know, her cannons are for average, but her flying changes in her pirouettes are really, really special.
Speaker ASo you pick up a lot of points if you can do a can of pirouette.
Speaker AI've learned.
Speaker ASo I've been trying to learn how to do tanner pirouettes for a really long time.
Speaker ABecause, you know, Michael's like, hey, if you can canter pirouette, you can walk for a six and a half.
Speaker ABecause her walks pure.
Speaker ABut it's not, you know, there's not a lot of overtrack.
Speaker GIt's very average, right?
Speaker ASo I'm like, okay, well, I guess I better learn how to canter pirouette because I can't make her walk bigger.
Speaker AI've been attempting to learn how to canter pirouette for a really long time.
Speaker AAnd poor Michael is like that.
Speaker AThat man deserves, like, a medal for trying to teach me how to pirouette on, like, 27 horses.
Speaker ABut I think I'm getting the hang of it.
Speaker GClearly you are, because you all look okay at Devon.
Speaker BYou just had a good devon.
Speaker APretty good.
Speaker AYeah, I had a great devon, but, yes, you did.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker ASo.
Speaker ASo Lila went from, like, last place and all the young horse stuff.
Speaker AAnd then last year, she was seven.
Speaker ALast year, regionals, and we did a pre St.
Speaker AGeorge, and it was pretty good.
Speaker AAnd I was like, that was a pretty nice test.
Speaker AShe got, like, a 70.
Speaker AAnd I won the championship.
Speaker AAnd I was like, that's kind of cool.
Speaker ASo I guess I'll go to Kentucky.
Speaker ASo then we toodled out to Kentucky, and I had a pretty nice test out there, too, and I was like, oh, I think that was a good pre St.
Speaker AGeorge.
Speaker AAnd then I won that.
Speaker AOh, that was really cool, because she's only seven and she won all this stuff, so she was already on the emerging horse list.
Speaker AAnd then at seven, when they turn eight, they age out of the emerging list.
Speaker AAnd then we went to the.
Speaker AThey had a development clinic over at, I think, what, January with Charlotte and Christine, and they, you know, it's like an observation thing they teach you, but I think that, you know, they kind of see where you're at and if you're ready to move on to the development list.
Speaker ASo they moved me onto the development list, which was, like, super, super cool, you know, if you're me, like, that's like, yeah, I'm super excited.
Speaker AI'm still excited about it.
Speaker ASo that was really fun.
Speaker ASo that's how she got on the development list, and hopefully we can continue, because her love it visage continues to develop, and her ones are really, really cool.
Speaker ALike, it's going to be a great grand prix horse.
Speaker CYeah, I love it.
Speaker BWell, and you have some young ones coming up.
Speaker BI mean, you won the breed show at Devon, girl.
Speaker BHoly smokes.
Speaker AI love the breed show at Devon.
Speaker AI know everyone's like, why are you there?
Speaker AI say, I go to Devon from Monday to Sunday every year, and I freaking love the breed show.
Speaker AAnd basically material, because material is, like, my favorite class and no joke.
Speaker AMy entire goal in life is to go to Devon and do at the same show.
Speaker AI want to ride the three year old material and the CDI grand Prix.
Speaker AThat's, like, my goal in life.
Speaker CDo it, do that.
Speaker BYou're on your way.
Speaker AI'm getting there.
Speaker AI just need a little bit more time because I had to grow them.
Speaker ABut they're coming.
Speaker BThey're coming.
Speaker CYou got it.
Speaker BAnd so you're still.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AI don't normally do the in hand stuff, but I had him last year.
Speaker AI bought it.
Speaker AWe bought him as a foal, my client, Joe Kosick, and I bought him as a baby.
Speaker AHe is out of a jazz mare that is the same.
Speaker AIt's the mother of my masterful dream horse, who is on the emerging list.
Speaker AI love the mare.
Speaker AI've had a bunch of her.
Speaker AI basically buy everything that comes out of this mare because I think it's a fantastic mare, and she's a great producer, like, incredible hind leg, great mechanic for the piafasage, and I love that.
Speaker AAnd they're jazz, they're a little bit hot, right?
Speaker AWhich, you know, if you can hang on to it till they're six or seven, you're going to be great.
Speaker ABut, yeah, so I bought.
Speaker AWe bought this cult because I wanted to have one cult.
Speaker AI want to have one stack.
Speaker AWe have stallions at the farm that our client owns.
Speaker AStallions.
Speaker ABut I want to have one.
Speaker AThat was my one stallion because more than that's a lot of stallion, sort of one.
Speaker AAnd we were like, this is the one.
Speaker AAnd we bought him.
Speaker AAnd then at two, I was like, oh, he's really pretty.
Speaker AMaybe we should put him in the breed show.
Speaker ALike, he's like feral out in the field, right?
Speaker AAnd I'm like, I think we should maybe take him to Devin.
Speaker AThat could be fun.
Speaker AAnd everyone's like, what are you doing?
Speaker AAnd I'm like, well, he's pretty, and I think he trots nice, right?
Speaker AAnd he has a good walk.
Speaker ASo, you know, we would, like, put a bridle on him and ran him around a little bit.
Speaker AAnd I was like, I think this will work.
Speaker AMy poor working students are trotting this two year old feral monster up and down the arena.
Speaker AThey're like, what are you doing?
Speaker AAnd we hate this job.
Speaker AAnd I'm like, just trust me, it'll be great.
Speaker ASo we took him to Devon and he got.
Speaker AHe got our grand champion last year.
Speaker AThat was pretty cool.
Speaker AAnd we won some money, and the breeder was there.
Speaker AIt was like, the whole thing.
Speaker AYeah, it was pretty cool.
Speaker AWe won a bunch of money.
Speaker ALike, where do we win money?
Speaker AI thought that was fun.
Speaker ALike, I actually got a check.
Speaker AI was like, whoa, breeder, cool.
Speaker BI would have faded.
Speaker BYeah, I would just.
Speaker AI did.
Speaker AI did.
Speaker AI, like, sent it straight to the vet bill.
Speaker AAnd then this year, I was like, you know what?
Speaker AI'm going to take him again because he's really pretty now.
Speaker ALike, he's beautiful.
Speaker AHe's just like, beautiful stallion.
Speaker AAnd I took him this year, and then I was trying to lead him around on Monday, and I was like, I don't think I like stallions anymore.
Speaker ALike, he's like, he's big and he's like, I really love this.
Speaker ASo anyway, poor turtle, Bruce Griffin Turtle.
Speaker AHe handled him for me.
Speaker AHe's a beautiful job.
Speaker AHe won the whole thing.
Speaker AAnd it was.
Speaker AHe was awesome.
Speaker AIt was fun.
Speaker AAnd he would.
Speaker AHe would be like, do you want me to come get him in the stall?
Speaker AI'm like, I'll get him halfway, and then you take it yes, please.
Speaker BOh, that's awesome.
Speaker AI said, this is a good boy job.
Speaker AThis is a job for boys.
Speaker ATake this horror.
Speaker BYes, please.
Speaker CYeah, it's wild there.
Speaker CDevin, you're brave.
Speaker AI love it.
Speaker ANo, I love it.
Speaker AIt's so fun.
Speaker AIt's, like, just the right level of chaos for my brain, so it's just so.
Speaker AAnd I love the three year olds.
Speaker AAnd I didn't have a young horse to ride in the material, so I literally made a post on Facebook that I wanted to catch, ride something.
Speaker AOkay.
Speaker AThat's the level of nuts I am.
Speaker AAnd then my friend Hannah, my friend Hannah sent me a four year old to ride, like, a great four year old that she'd bred from her program.
Speaker AAnd I showed him, and he got some ribbons, and it was super fun.
Speaker ASo it was great.
Speaker ABut I did.
Speaker AI catch rode to material at Devon.
Speaker AIt was a blast.
Speaker BOh, my gosh.
Speaker BI love it.
Speaker BSo fun to hear.
Speaker BI mean, I kept seeing the Facebook posts, and you had Nicholas there, which Nicholas, like, Nicholas always asks a vacation man.
Speaker ANicholas did everything this year because they called me, you know, because the people who run Devon, they know that I'm, like, up for all kinds of craziness, right?
Speaker ASo they're like, we need it.
Speaker ALast year, they're like, we need a horse to dance off.
Speaker ASo I was going to take Nicholas, but he actually got sick, like, three weeks before Devon.
Speaker AI had to scratch him, so I ended up subbing in Lilu, which was hilarious.
Speaker AYeah, exactly.
Speaker AMy seven year old, I suppose, before grand Prix, and I was like, I can sort of pee off, but not really.
Speaker ABut it was fine.
Speaker ABut like that.
Speaker AAnd then they had.
Speaker AThis year, they.
Speaker AThey call me back and they're like, hey, do you want to ride in the dance off?
Speaker AI'm like, oh, yeah.
Speaker AIs the pope Catholic?
Speaker AYes, I do.
Speaker BI've never seen it.
Speaker BYeah, I've never seen it.
Speaker BWhat's.
Speaker AIt's ridiculous.
Speaker AIt's so fun.
Speaker ASo this year, there were four.
Speaker AIt was always four of us, and there's always me and Jim Coford, because, obviously.
Speaker ARight?
Speaker ALike, who are the, like, idiots of dressage?
Speaker AMe and Jim.
Speaker ASo it's always.
Speaker AAnd then we had Lauren Samus, who won last year, and then they had Silva this year, who was.
Speaker ASilva won the whole thing.
Speaker AShe was amazing.
Speaker AShe did a great job.
Speaker ASo it's like a collaboration with this string quartet and these breakdancers, and it's like this whole.
Speaker AIt's so fun.
Speaker AAnd this year, we all had a theme, and they were, like, decades.
Speaker ASo, Jim was the seventies, like, obviously.
Speaker ABut I was the nineties, obviously.
Speaker BYes.
Speaker AAnd Silva had the sixties, and she had the best.
Speaker ALike, she had.
Speaker AObviously, they have a little bit more resources than some of us.
Speaker AShe had a whole team.
Speaker AShe had this costume on, this horse.
Speaker AThere was, like, a pink breastplate with flower power all over it.
Speaker AOh, my God.
Speaker AShe did amazing.
Speaker AIt was awesome.
Speaker BAwesome.
Speaker ASo, yeah, then you go in and they play.
Speaker AThey play music from your decade that your.
Speaker AYour theme is related to.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AAnd you are basically supposed to do.
Speaker AYou're supposed to, like, make up a freestyle on the fly.
Speaker AOh.
Speaker ASo it's only, like, it's like 60 or 90 seconds, so.
Speaker AAnd then.
Speaker AAnd then, like.
Speaker ASo Jim and I go first and we do trot.
Speaker AWe do.
Speaker AOur stuff is supposed to be the trot, right?
Speaker ASo, like, I did, like, pia facage, piaf pirouettes, big old half passes.
Speaker AI tried to do extension, but it's pony.
Speaker ASo it was a pony extension, but I did it, you know, and then, you know, Jim did his thing, and then they vote on who.
Speaker AWho wins the trot round.
Speaker ARight?
Speaker ASo then that person advances to the final.
Speaker ANow, we ended up having to cut the final last week because the award ceremony had run late and we couldn't start the grand Prix late, obviously.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ACDI.
Speaker ASo we had to cut the final.
Speaker ASo we just did, like, we all went once, and then they voted, and it was fine.
Speaker AYeah, but it's just so much fun.
Speaker AIt's just kind of fun and entertaining and, like.
Speaker AYeah, yeah, it's fun.
Speaker AIt's like dressage fun.
Speaker AAnd I, you know, I love doing things that are fun with dressage because I think we need more of that if you want to, like, you know, draw in people from the outside world that think we're stuck up jerks because it's kind of how it looks, you know, in our penguin suits in 95 degrees.
Speaker ASo you come to your party and glitter and do a PF pirouette.
Speaker ALike, he had a hat on his head.
Speaker ALike, all kinds of stuff.
Speaker ALike, love it.
Speaker AIt was hilarious.
Speaker AYeah, it was great.
Speaker AOh, my gosh, it's so much fun.
Speaker AIt's so much fun.
Speaker AI love that stuff.
Speaker BWe have to back up because you had amazing Devin, but you went to the Olympics.
Speaker BI mean, girl.
Speaker AWhat?
Speaker BYou've been all over.
Speaker AYeah, I got to go to Europe twice this year, which is amazing.
Speaker AI basically spent most of my life following Alice Tarzan around the world, which has been really fun.
Speaker CThat sounds fun.
Speaker AI'm just, like an emotional support animal, which is great.
Speaker AI also braid sometimes.
Speaker BAnd you braid and you groom and you get the horses ready for, you know, often.
Speaker AI love.
Speaker AYeah, I love to brush horses in Europe.
Speaker AIt's fun.
Speaker ASo it's the best fun because it's no pressure, you know, I'm, like, just gonna go and observe and have fun and support and be part of the team, and I love that.
Speaker AAnd you get to be in the barns, behind the scenes, on the sidelines of the ring.
Speaker AI love it.
Speaker AIt's so cool.
Speaker AI got to pick up Charlotte Dujardin's horse's poop last year.
Speaker AIt was amazing.
Speaker BYeah, you did.
Speaker BYeah, you did.
Speaker BYou're like, I got this.
Speaker BI got it.
Speaker AI did.
Speaker AThere's a picture of me doing it.
Speaker AI'm pretty sure it's on my facebook somewhere, because I was like, we're going to find it.
Speaker CI have to know, though, what was your favorite moment at the Olympics behind the scenes that no one knows about?
Speaker AYou know, I didn't.
Speaker ASo I didn't actually groom at the Olympics.
Speaker AThe Olympics, you have to do your credentials for, like, months and months.
Speaker ALike six.
Speaker BThat's a different ball.
Speaker ASo I didn't.
Speaker AYeah, it's totally different rules.
Speaker ASo I didn't actually groom at the Olympics, but I was there all the time.
Speaker ABut watching the freestyles, like, I watched the whole freestyle.
Speaker AMy friend Kim and I went and.
Speaker AAnd we hung out with Alice Marcus, and it was awesome.
Speaker ABut, like, just to see that level of dressage and to see the best in the world, to watch, you know, Isabelle on Wendy and, like, just awesome.
Speaker ALike, so cool, you know, and Hans, Peter, all these incredible riders, just to see them do, because watching it unclip my horse from my kitchen table is cool.
Speaker ASeeing it in person is, like, you get that.
Speaker AYou get the presence of the horses, and it's just awesome.
Speaker AI'm so glad I got to go.
Speaker ALike, I didn't, like, really have time or money to do it, but I was like, the opportunity comes, you take it, right?
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker ASo, yeah, I know.
Speaker AI'm always doing that craziness.
Speaker BYou are.
Speaker BYou're really good about that, though.
Speaker BBut, no, that's such a big thing.
Speaker AProbably rein it in a bit.
Speaker ABut I love to do that stuff.
Speaker AYeah, but when you're going to get this opportunity again, you know, never.
Speaker BYeah, you may never.
Speaker AYeah, you may never.
Speaker ASo I'm.
Speaker AYou know, and, like everyone always tells you, tomorrow is never promised, so I'm gonna do it today.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker ASo I'm a big fan of that.
Speaker AAnd that's something I've learned from Alice, so, you know, with her, you know, cancer history and everything.
Speaker ASo I'm like, let's do it.
Speaker ALike, we're gonna go.
Speaker AWe're gonna do it.
Speaker AIt's gonna be great.
Speaker AAnd it was great.
Speaker AIt was awesome.
Speaker AIt was such a great time.
Speaker AVersailles is an incredible time.
Speaker AI've never been to France before.
Speaker BOh, my God.
Speaker AAnd we were in Versailles most of the time.
Speaker AWe did go into Paris, which was cool for what we had one day that we didn't have tickets to anything, so we went into Paris, and we did little touristy things.
Speaker AI got to see all the stuff, you know, Eiffel Tower.
Speaker AIt was so cool.
Speaker ALike, what a great week we had.
Speaker AIt was just.
Speaker AIt's just like, I.
Speaker AI don't really go on vacations.
Speaker AI go on horse show vacations.
Speaker ALike, I go over to Europe with Alice, and that's on vacation, but that's my dream.
Speaker ALike, I love that I'm not going to sit on a beach.
Speaker AI mean, listen to me talk.
Speaker ADo I sound like I'm sitting on a beach?
Speaker BYou're driving a horse trailer.
Speaker EI love it.
Speaker BI love it.
Speaker BAnd you were at Aachen, too, right?
Speaker BYou did Aachen, and I didn't go.
Speaker ATo Aachen this year.
Speaker AI didn't go to Aachen this year.
Speaker AI was going to go to Aachen this year, but then I had an opportunity.
Speaker AMichael had Morton come into Hilltop, so I rode with Morton for that week, which was amazing.
Speaker AYeah, that was amazing.
Speaker AYou know, he's so great, so he's been just really helpful for my ride, and, you know, just there's, like, the next level that I'm trying to get to, you know, unsuccessfully, but working on it.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker AYou know, he and Michael have been amazing, and I didn't want to pass up that opportunity.
Speaker AAnd plus, you know, I've been to aken twice.
Speaker AI'm kidding.
Speaker AYeah, I've been to Aachen twice with Alice already.
Speaker AI was like, okay.
Speaker AThis time.
Speaker AWell, I didn't think I could do Aachen and Paris, you know.
Speaker BSure.
Speaker ASo I stayed here.
Speaker AI rode with Morton.
Speaker AI'm super glad I did.
Speaker AAnd then I got to go to Paris, and that was amazing.
Speaker AAnd then we went to Airmelo a few weeks ago.
Speaker BAirmelo?
Speaker BYou went to Airmelo?
Speaker BThat's what it was, yeah.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BCause I've been stalking you.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AWell, yeah, it's not hard to stalk because I just.
Speaker AI think it's cool to, like, kind of chronicle all this craziness of my life because it's so fun.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd I know you're going, so I'm watching.
Speaker BAnd I have, like, through her facebook page is awesome.
Speaker GI love it.
Speaker AWell, I started, like, photo blog these trips because I'm, like, in the bathroom in the Barna hawk, and I'm like, look at this cool german toilet.
Speaker ALike.
Speaker BWell, it's fun for the random boo.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo tell us about Amerlo.
Speaker BWhat was Airmelo?
Speaker ASo, so cool.
Speaker ALike, the timing of Airmelo was.
Speaker AWas a little tricky for me because it's, like, right before lamplight, and I was like, I probably shouldn't go, but I did groom at Airmelo, and I was like, screw it, I'm going.
Speaker ASo, again, opportunity.
Speaker ASo it was.
Speaker AIt was just like, to be immersed in that level of competition with the young horses was so cool because I got to see, like, all of these up and coming stallions.
Speaker ALike, I'm sure you're going to see some of these horses at LA, like, 100%.
Speaker AAnd just to be out there and, you know, at Airmelo, the horses are based on their.
Speaker AI think.
Speaker AI think their nationality is based on, like, either where they live or their breeder lives.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker ASo, like, lottie fry is riding around in the dutch orange jackets.
Speaker ALike, she's got.
Speaker AShe's listed as Dutch.
Speaker ASo I was, like, totally confused because I'm like, well, she writes for Great Britain.
Speaker AI'm confused.
Speaker AAnd then I figured it out.
Speaker AI was like, oh, that's so cool.
Speaker ARight?
Speaker ABut it was cool to watch.
Speaker ALike, to watch these.
Speaker AThese are Olympians that are riding four and five year olds.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo cool.
Speaker ALike, yeah, but I'm like, that's the thing.
Speaker ALike, that's really cool because that's not so common over here.
Speaker BNo, you know, that's right.
Speaker ABut I think it's going to start to get more common because I think it's the only way we're going to be competitive on the global stage.
Speaker ABut that's a whole other hill.
Speaker AThat's a whole.
Speaker BThat's a whole other discussion.
Speaker BGirl, we'll hop you back onto that hill.
Speaker BThat's a different discussion.
Speaker BWorth the discussion.
Speaker BFor sure.
Speaker BWorth the discussion.
Speaker AYeah, for sure.
Speaker AFor sure.
Speaker BLike, you're doing.
Speaker BAnd I think, you know, Megan and I are doing, like, we're all trying because, again, we can't afford.
Speaker BI can't go also.
Speaker BBut the world brings me.
Speaker ABut it's not the same.
Speaker AIt's not the same if you.
Speaker AIf you are buying it.
Speaker AIt's not the same as making it yourself.
Speaker AAnd it's, like, you know, and that's the thing.
Speaker AThe comment that I get from judges and other, you know, the feedback I get from people when I'm riding Lilu, which is not perfect.
Speaker ALike, I'm not perfect.
Speaker AI'm very, very, very far from perfect.
Speaker AThe horse is not perfect.
Speaker AWe're working on it.
Speaker ABut they're like, there's something about the pair of you together that's magic.
Speaker AAnd I'm like, yeah.
Speaker ABecause I made it, right.
Speaker CYep.
Speaker AWe broke that horse.
Speaker AWe started that horse, you know?
Speaker AAnd that's the thing that I think makes the magic, you know?
Speaker ASo that's what.
Speaker AYeah, it's cool.
Speaker AIt's really fun.
Speaker BIt is so cool.
Speaker BAnd we could keep you here all night.
Speaker BYou are so exciting, and you're just infectious and how excited you are about our sport.
Speaker BAnd if anyone wants to follow you on Facebook because.
Speaker BOr Instagram or any of the places, how do they find it?
Speaker BBecause I love watching you.
Speaker BIt's so much fun.
Speaker BAnd seeing.
Speaker BI'm literally.
Speaker BHow is she doing this?
Speaker GLove it.
Speaker ABecause she doesn't sleep.
Speaker BLike, I.
Speaker AClearly.
Speaker BYou don't sleep.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AI'm gonna go home and edit sales videos tonight when I get off this freaking highway, but, yeah, so I have my.
Speaker AI don't have a business page because I'm too lazy to maintain multiple Facebook pages.
Speaker ASo I just have my personal page, which is like, my business page, because there really isn't a difference at this point.
Speaker AMy personal life and business life are the same.
Speaker ASo I am this.
Speaker ASo you can find my Facebook page.
Speaker AI'm on it all the time.
Speaker AI post horses for sale there.
Speaker AI post stupid, ridiculous things and german toilet pictures.
Speaker ALike, I post lots of things.
Speaker BThat's great.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker ASo I'm there.
Speaker AI'm also on Instagram because somebody connected them, which is great when you're like, an elder millennial and you're like, Instagram is stupid.
Speaker GI.
Speaker ASo it's not actually stupid.
Speaker AI just don't have time for two.
Speaker ABut then they hooked them together, so that was kind of fun for me.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker ASo, yeah, I'm there.
Speaker AAnd then I have a website that's also equally ridiculous.
Speaker AIf you go to my website, just, Lauren, tell me.
Speaker ADressage, if you want to laugh, because my website is, I think, hilarious because that's the vibe that I live with.
Speaker AIt is not your average dressage regime.
Speaker BI love it.
Speaker BWell, Lauren, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker BThis has been so fun.
Speaker BAnd, girl, we're going to keep.
Speaker BWe're going to keep tabs on you because we're thrilled with all your success, and it's so fun to watch it.
Speaker AWell, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker AIt's always a pleasure.
Speaker BEven under the best circumstances, travel is stressful for horses.
Speaker BWe've all been there.
Speaker BStuck on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.
Speaker BYou can make the journey knowing that us rider is there for you.
Speaker BGet peace of mind on the road with us rider's nationwide 24/7 roadside assistance coverage for both you and your horse.
Speaker BJoin today@usrider.org.
Speaker Bwell, tonight we are very excited to have Kimmy Poulen.
Speaker BShe is an international grand prix rider and trainer based in New Jersey.
Speaker BKimmy, welcome to the show.
Speaker EThank you for having me.
Speaker BWell, we are thrilled to have you.
Speaker BAnd you.
Speaker BFirst of all, we want to introduce you and we want to talk about your amazing Devin.
Speaker BSo, first of all, can you tell us about yourself?
Speaker EI work for Lauren Chumley, and I've been riding since I was eleven.
Speaker EI started with hunter jumpers, but quickly fell in love with dressage just because of the detail oriented nature of it.
Speaker EAnd that was in Texas.
Speaker ESo I moved to the east coast in 2010 and I've never looked back.
Speaker EI love it here.
Speaker ESo, yeah, awesome.
Speaker CWell, you had an amazing Devon experience.
Speaker CI want to hear what your favorite moment was.
Speaker EDefinitely the grand Prix freestyle.
Speaker EThat was incredible.
Speaker CAnd what was it like riding in the lights and at Devon?
Speaker CTell us all about it.
Speaker CI love Devon.
Speaker EOh, my gosh.
Speaker EDevon is my favorite horror show ever.
Speaker EThere's this atmosphere and this vibe there that's just, you don't get it anywhere else.
Speaker EAnd it's, I don't know, it feels very close and like it's a family thing and not just like you're going to horror show and everyone's serious and, you know, it's really cool atmosphere.
Speaker EBut my favorite thing, definitely this year, the horse, the grand Prix horse I was riding.
Speaker EHot date.
Speaker EHe can be a little bit variable in his performance.
Speaker EHe can sometimes get nervous and not do all the things I know he can do.
Speaker EAnd this last weekend, he was phenomenal.
Speaker EHe blew my expectations out of the water and just far exceeded anything anyone ever thought he could do.
Speaker ESo that was amazing.
Speaker EEspecially since I've decided after this year, after regionals and hopefully finals, that I'm letting him step down to our working student and letting him do young riders with her.
Speaker CWow.
Speaker ESo for him to have that kind of finish was just perfect.
Speaker ESo perfect.
Speaker BWell, tell everybody a little bit about dressage.
Speaker BDevon Wyatt's historic, and if you've never been there and kind of walk us through what it's like to ride there at night and be a part of that whole experience.
Speaker ESo it's a very old show grounds, and it's super famous for the hunter jumper show that they have.
Speaker EAnd I think it's a spring, they have several different ones, but it's.
Speaker EYou definitely have this old traditional feeling and the riding under the lights, there's always a ton of people in the stands.
Speaker EAnd especially this year, the Grand Prix had, the Grand Prix for the freestyle had 21 riders, so that might have been the biggest Grand Prix class that they've ever had.
Speaker EI'm not sure, but certainly up there, if it's not the biggest.
Speaker ESo there's always a lot of people in the stands and they're cheering for you and they get really into everyone's performance, and it just, like I said, it feels like you're there with family and everyone's on your side, and it's a really great feeling.
Speaker CI'm so glad you had that as your last CDI I just think, because I've been watching you on facebook.
Speaker CBig fan since we met at regionals, and I'm just.
Speaker CI'm so excited for you.
Speaker CSo congratulations.
Speaker CTell us about your youngster.
Speaker CYou also had an amazing show with him at Devon.
Speaker EYes, he is literally perfect.
Speaker EThere's not one thing wrong with that horse.
Speaker EHe a pleasure to have, and he was incredible.
Speaker EHe was very good at festival.
Speaker EWe had a great result at festival of champions, and then we came to Devon and he just stepped it up a whole nother level.
Speaker EAnd I'm, as we all do in this journey, we figure out the horse more and more.
Speaker ESo I've figured out a better preparation for him.
Speaker EHe's a pretty hot horse, so I usually pre ride him.
Speaker ENothing crazy, just stretch him and get him loose.
Speaker EAnd that seems to really help to then pull him out later and warm him up, not for a super long time, and go in and he's really focused and relaxed right there.
Speaker EHe looks so great.
Speaker EI love that horse.
Speaker CTell him, what's his name?
Speaker CWhat are his bloodlines?
Speaker CDid you breed him?
Speaker CWho's the breeder?
Speaker CTell us all the things about him.
Speaker EHis name is mojito and his sire is grand galaxy Wynn, and he's out of a rodeamare, and he was bred by Labara stables.
Speaker EI'm probably saying that wrong, but that he was actually bred in Belgium.
Speaker EAnd then he.
Speaker EI got him from Denmark and I bought him sight unseen.
Speaker EI actually fell in love with him over a video of him lunging as a two year old.
Speaker EIsn't that great?
Speaker BWhen you look at that two year old video, what did you see?
Speaker EI get a feeling, and that feeling seems to have done me well so far in the future, so I started trusting a little bit more, but I just got a feeling, and I couldn't get him out of my head.
Speaker EAnd he was actually three at the time when I got him, but the video that I saw of him was when he was two, and, yeah, I just couldn't get him off of my mind.
Speaker EAnd then it was crazy.
Speaker EI get that, like.
Speaker BAll my best versus I've ever gotten.
Speaker BI just met them.
Speaker BI guess I got that feeling with my husband, too, I will tell you that.
Speaker BBut, you know, I mean, it's just like, yeah, okay.
Speaker BAnd it's the same with my best one.
Speaker AIt's true.
Speaker BI'm the feeling like, I am, too.
Speaker BMy mom always says, like, you see the horse, and if you cannot sleep that night and you think only about that horse, then it's.
Speaker BIt's the right one.
Speaker BAnd I'm with you.
Speaker BSo I get that.
Speaker BThat's why I asked that question, like, what made you do it?
Speaker BAnd I think a feeling is, I mean, there's a lot of connection that has to happen in this sport.
Speaker BThere's a lot of beautiful young horses.
Speaker BBut, like, why are you connected?
Speaker BSo I get it, but I love it.
Speaker BKimmy.
Speaker EYeah.
Speaker EThat story, and he wasn't actually for sale.
Speaker EI just pestered the owner over and over and over for probably a month or two, and then she's finally like, okay, fine, I love it.
Speaker CWhat.
Speaker CAnd what are your plans for the future with him?
Speaker EI want to get him to grand Prix.
Speaker EI'm at the moment, I'm just waiting to see where he's at.
Speaker EHe gets pretty hot in the changes.
Speaker ENot crazy, but he gets.
Speaker EHe wants to do perfect all the time, so he overachieves, and I want to make sure I don't over face him, which would be a very easy thing to do because he tries so hard.
Speaker ESo I'm letting him tell me what to do next.
Speaker EI would like to do developing pre St.
Speaker EGeorge next year for.
Speaker EIn hopes for festival, which I think is doable.
Speaker EBut whatever he is up for, because I do not want to get greedy and blow his mind, because that would be a very easy thing to do.
Speaker EHe's pretty hot and sensitive, so, yeah.
Speaker BI love it such a good way with a young horse.
Speaker BYou know, it's like, let's.
Speaker BLet's see where this journey takes us.
Speaker BAnd I think that that's so cool.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker EAnd what speed it takes you.
Speaker EThat's the important thing is some people are like, no, no, you must do this now.
Speaker EAnd then the horse is not ready, and then it backfires.
Speaker BYeah, yeah.
Speaker BNo, I think it's great.
Speaker BI think it's awesome.
Speaker BWell, Kimmy, how can our listeners follow your adventure with him and follow you online?
Speaker BBecause it's going to be so fun to see how you develop this guy as well.
Speaker EI post a lot, almost every day on Instagram and Facebook.
Speaker EMy Instagram is kimberlyraydrasage and then I'm Kimmy Pullen on Facebook.
Speaker ESo that would be a great way.
Speaker EI always post stuff on my stories and in my feed.
Speaker EThat'd be a very easy way.
Speaker CI love watching you on Facebook.
Speaker CI have been rooting for you since we met each other, I think in 2014 regionals.
Speaker CSo I'm so excited.
Speaker CI can't wait to see you at Lamplight if he's ready next year.
Speaker CYes.
Speaker EYes.
Speaker BWe're going to be cheering you on.
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Speaker BVisit equestrian plus plus.com to subscribe.
Speaker CThis week's trainer tip will be from Jennifer Cotillo, talking about rider biomechanics.
Speaker BWell, tonight we are so excited to have Jennifer Cotillo.
Speaker BShe is a movement and body awareness specialist for equestrians.
Speaker BJennifer, welcome to the show.
Speaker GThanks so much for having me, Reese.
Speaker GI'm excited to be here.
Speaker EWe're thrilled to have you.
Speaker BWell, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker GWell, I have a really weird background that will probably take up too much of your show to really tell the whole thing.
Speaker GBut I have loved horses and ridden my whole life, but I'm also, I tell people, the world's worst athlete.
Speaker GAnd so riding never came easy to me.
Speaker GSo I really had to really train my own body to be the athlete that I finally figured out I needed to be in order to ride well.
Speaker GAnd so that started me down a whole path of discovery.
Speaker GIt's really been lifelong learning.
Speaker GSo I finally figured out that I needed to find a way to make my body better to be the athlete that I knew I needed to be.
Speaker GAnd once I discovered how to do that, I thought it would be a great thing to share with other people.
Speaker GAnd that's how I got involved with what I do.
Speaker CAnd, Jen, can you tell us about Eckert Minor?
Speaker CBecause I love that part of your story and how you shared it with myself.
Speaker GSure.
Speaker GI'm actually going to start back a little before that.
Speaker GSo how I really got into all this work was I started doing Pilates.
Speaker GNow, in today's world, Pilates is all over the place.
Speaker GBut when I started it, especially in the midwest, it was not.
Speaker GAnd I really learned that Pilates back in the day was body re education.
Speaker GBut it takes a lot of time and a lot of dedication and a lot of precision.
Speaker GAnd fast forward a few years, and this man named Eckert miners came into the picture.
Speaker GHe is a german physiologist, excuse me, who works on movements and really worked mostly with their racquet sport team.
Speaker GSo their Olympic ping pong, badminton, tennis, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker GBut his wife was a rider, and he used to watch all the ladies that ride and kept thinking, you know, I think I could really help these people and sort of started along that path.
Speaker GAnd what he really works on is mind body connection and neuro connections, and how to really make a body remember all the things that it really knew how to do back when it was a little kid.
Speaker GBut we've sort of forgotten along the way.
Speaker GWe, if you look at little children, they sit up with a very lovely, erect spine.
Speaker GWe all know they can put their toes in their mouths.
Speaker GThey're very flexible.
Speaker GThey can reach forwards and backwards and up and down.
Speaker GAnd to be a good athlete, you need to be able to do all that.
Speaker GMaybe not put your toes in your mouth, but you need to be the best athlete you can possibly be.
Speaker GAnd so he opened up a whole new world to me, that you could do some funny little things to reconnect your brain and your body and make huge, profound differences.
Speaker GSo, one, I love to show people that, to really explain how powerful this is.
Speaker GWe all know as riders that a horse, to feel really good in your hand, needs to be supple and soft in your pole.
Speaker GAnd one of my theories is that we mirror our horses, and our horses mirror us.
Speaker GSo if my pole is stuck, and we have a pole, too, that our occipital joint, if it's stuck, that our horse is going to mirror that as well.
Speaker GThat lack of throughness that we feel when our horses.
Speaker GWhen our horse is stuck in his pole is the same thing with us.
Speaker GOur movement isn't going to follow beautifully through our bodies if our pole is stuck.
Speaker GSo how can we do that?
Speaker GWell, one funny little way to do it is to sit and just move your eyeballs left and right and left and right and left and right and left and right.
Speaker GAnd if you do that for three or four, I'll say three minutes, the amount of pole suppleness that is, you can look right and left can increase easily, quickly, in three minutes by 50% to 70%.
Speaker GI mean, it's really amazing.
Speaker GIf I could figure out a way to get horses to hold their head still and have their eyeballs left and right and left and right and left and right, I'd really be on to something.
Speaker GI haven't figured that out yet, but I love.
Speaker CI think that's awesome.
Speaker CNew training tips.
Speaker GNew training tips.
Speaker EI love it.
Speaker BI love it.
Speaker BSo, Jennifer, tell us, like, okay, I can totally feel what you're saying, because I am not an athlete.
Speaker BLike, at the end of the day, like, we have a joke in our family because my dad tried to make me play tennis, and I can't run.
Speaker BLike, I really can't.
Speaker BI'm not very coordinated.
Speaker BI'm clumsy.
Speaker BAnd my dad's like, well, thank God you can ride a horse.
Speaker BAnd I tease him because I'm like, look who became the professional athlete of the family?
Speaker AMe.
Speaker BAnd I'm actually the least athletic off the horse.
Speaker BSo, yeah, it's a big joke in our family.
Speaker BAnd I literally hate tennis, y'all.
Speaker BI just hate it.
Speaker BI can't smell of tennis.
Speaker BMakes me anxious.
Speaker BThe dad tried to make me sevy graph.
Speaker BLike it didn't happen well, for me, but.
Speaker BSo I know what you're saying, because, you know, when I'm on a horse, I'm trained.
Speaker BI've been on a horse since I was little.
Speaker BI can.
Speaker BI'm very athletic on a horse.
Speaker BBut talk to.
Speaker BSo I felt to my soul what you said, like, I'm not an athlete.
Speaker BSo obviously, I started when I was really young.
Speaker BI was, like, nine, so, or seven when I started riding.
Speaker BBut tell us a little bit more about, like, how you help riders.
Speaker BYou know, now I'm now mid forties, and I couldn't do, if my body didn't know what it was supposed to do, it wouldn't do it.
Speaker BSo how do you make people like me?
Speaker GRight.
Speaker GWell, so everybody.
Speaker GSo everybody has their bodies age, their bodies have accidents.
Speaker GTheir bodies morph from what they were when they were little, little kids.
Speaker GSo I think what for me personally, one of the reasons why I was probably not a very good athlete, I didn't know it at the time, didn't know it really, until I was almost 30, was that I have a really good scoliosis.
Speaker GSo that makes me extraordinary crooked on a horse.
Speaker GSo I have to use what I do to help me maintain straightness.
Speaker GSo that's a big thing for me.
Speaker GBut the other thing that I see with many, many people is it all starts, I'm a pelvis all the way person.
Speaker GIf your pelvis isn't set up correctly on the horse, it's going to have no way to follow correctly.
Speaker GSo you see people in chair seats, fork seats, those are the two basic ones, but there are a whole myriad of others that as soon as your pelvis gets into that place, it can't swing properly.
Speaker GAnd so there are basically five joints in your pelvis.
Speaker GThere are your two hip joints.
Speaker GThere's your sacral lumbar joint, and there are two si joints.
Speaker GAnd all of those, to be a really good rider, but also to be a really good athlete, need to work to their utmost.
Speaker GAnd for that to happen, all five of those joints, especially three of them, the two hip and the sacroiliac, have to be in what's called neutral.
Speaker GSo it's not overextended, it's not over flexed.
Speaker GIt's right there in the middle.
Speaker GSo you have the ability to have your full range of motion.
Speaker GSo that's, for me, super key.
Speaker GIf you've always ridden and you've ridden well, I'm going to say that more than likely, your pelvis is pretty in.
Speaker GPretty much in a neutral position.
Speaker GIt's pretty much upright.
Speaker GSo if it is.
Speaker BSorry, can I ask real quick, like, okay, we're sitting in the chairs right now.
Speaker BI mean, Megan and I are sitting in chairs, and I'm sure a lot of people are either driving, some may be riding, but in general, like, if we're sitting in a chair, how do you talk me through this exercise?
Speaker BLike, you're telling us about our pelvis, but, like, I'm, like, wiggling my tushy.
Speaker BSo how do we, how do we find this neutral spine?
Speaker GSo this neutral place is when your pelvis is absolutely perpendicular to the ground.
Speaker GSo if you can envision yourself right now and get rid of all your flesh, you're just a skeleton.
Speaker GJust a skeleton.
Speaker GYou want your.
Speaker GYour pelvis and you can get rid of your arms, you can get rid of your legs, you can get rid of all of it.
Speaker GYour pelvis to be at 90 degrees to the ground.
Speaker GAll right.
Speaker GSo most people either are, they're tipped a little.
Speaker GSo the top of their pelvis is tipped forward and they're sitting more on their, the front part of their pelvis.
Speaker GAnd so they have a little too much arch in their lower back.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker GSee that line right now?
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker GOkay.
Speaker GOr if you're, if you're slumping, you're kind of feeling like your tailbone is tucked under and your back is a little rounded and your chest is down.
Speaker GThat the chest is down because of the way your pelvis is.
Speaker GOkay.
Speaker GSo if you are in the slumped position when the horse.
Speaker GSo let's pretend we're all on our little bit more on our tailbones.
Speaker GWe're slumped.
Speaker GBut that is not a horrible, horrible way to be riding if you're, if you need to do something sitting in the saddle, if you're a hunt seat rider or if you're a saddle seat rider, not so important.
Speaker GBut for a dressage rider who wants to have their buns in the saddle and follow and not hurt their lower back or their back at all.
Speaker GSo if you're tucked under and you're sitting on your tail, it's not really pretty, but let's just go there for a second.
Speaker GWhen the horse pushes with its hind legs, it can push your pelvis forward like a clock, like a doggy door.
Speaker GI'm going to use my doggy door on you, my doggy door analogy.
Speaker GAll right, so if the horse's hind legs push your pelvis, your doggy door is going to go forward, right?
Speaker GMm hmm.
Speaker BYes.
Speaker GCan every, everybody can see that.
Speaker GAll right.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker GLet's just hold that for a minute.
Speaker GHold that.
Speaker GBut because the doggy door, when you're slumped, the doggy door is slightly already pushed forward.
Speaker GSo it only has a little more ways to go.
Speaker GBut the dog can get through, right?
Speaker CYep.
Speaker GAll right, now let's flip the pelvis the other way.
Speaker GAnd so now you're sitting on the front.
Speaker GYour back is too arched.
Speaker GAll right.
Speaker GOkay, now.
Speaker GBut now the horse pushes, it pushes into the doggy door, but the doggy door kind of rams down into the floor.
Speaker GIt can't swim through.
Speaker GIt gets stuck because it's in the wrong spot.
Speaker GIs that, can you see that in your mind's eye?
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker GIf the doggy door, that is your pelvis, is at 90 degrees, when the horse pushes that doggy door, that pelvis has the maximum opportunity to swing through, and that's what we want to be able to sit our horse.
Speaker GDoes that make sense?
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CI love it.
Speaker CI'm going to use this on my students.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker GOh, it's a good, and it's a good analogy, but now let's pretend for a second that, so the doggy door really in the writing.
Speaker GIt's a good analogy.
Speaker GAnd it's that sacral lumbar joint.
Speaker GEverything has to swing there.
Speaker GBut your doggy door is also attached to your hip joints, to your legs.
Speaker GRight.
Speaker GSo let's pretend there's, there's like a little, you know, if the dog can get through, it's no problem because your hip joint moves so the dog can run through, the horse can go through you.
Speaker GYou're a conduit to let that energy go through.
Speaker GBut let's say for some reason, one of your hip joints is tighter than the other.
Speaker GNow the dog runs through, but now one side of the doggy door moves more than the other or vice versa.
Speaker GOkay.
Speaker GCan you, I hope you can see that in your mind's eye.
Speaker CYep.
Speaker GSo now let's think about flying changes.
Speaker BOh, yeah.
Speaker GIf I have one side of my, if I have a doggy door that swings more through to the left than the right, how is that going to affect my flying changes?
Speaker GWhen I go from left to right, let's say my right hip isn't working as well as my left.
Speaker GWhen I go from left to right, I'm going to have a short change because the dog can't get through.
Speaker GYep.
Speaker GOn the other side, it's going to be a lot bigger.
Speaker GSo, you know, I'll look at a rider I'll use, I'll throw Megan under the bus.
Speaker GAre usually, are really even.
Speaker GBut you'll see horses that are short, long, short, long, short, long.
Speaker GAnd they're like, oh, it's the horse.
Speaker GIt's, you know, it needs to be stronger on the right hind left, whatever.
Speaker GNo, no, no.
Speaker GMaybe somebody's pelvis isn't working so well.
Speaker GMaybe it doesn't swing so much.
Speaker GSo let's take that same doggy door analogy.
Speaker GI would suggest that you could do a, let me think here, a right eight meter voltae much more easily than a left because I need that pelvis to swing evenly to be able to do that.
Speaker GSo these are the kind of things that I'm looking at to help a, let's just first get somebody to be able to sit the trot.
Speaker GI need that upright pelvis.
Speaker GI need it and I need it to be able to swing.
Speaker GThen I needed to swing evenly.
Speaker GAnd from there, I keep working up.
Speaker GI'm so focused.
Speaker GFirst, fix the pelvis.
Speaker GIf you fix the pelvis, very oftentimes, uneven shoulders, a collapsed waist, a leg that hikes up, all those things, usually, not always, but usually are ancillary to pelvis that isn't working well.
Speaker GSo I'm going to use all the tools in my toolbox to try to find that, fix that and help you be more in sync with your horse is what I'm trying to do.
Speaker BSo what are some tools, you know, if our, you know, you're thinking like, what are the tools for that?
Speaker BWhat, what are some things that you can do to help writers from this point?
Speaker GAll right, so I'll just give you a couple of easy ones that I can explain pretty easily.
Speaker GCall like this.
Speaker GSo I think one of the easiest things you can do is lay on the floor with your knees bent and your knees bent, feet flat.
Speaker GAnd you always want to make sure that your ankles, your knees and your hip joint, which is in the middle of your groin and not on the outside of your, your pelvis, it's in the middle, are lined up so you're nice and straight.
Speaker GSo that's the first thing.
Speaker GAnd then rock your pelvis around however you want.
Speaker GThere's no really right or wrong until you feel like you land flat.
Speaker GSo I like to imagine when I'm there, I like to envision that my pelvis is like a dinner plate, right?
Speaker GAnd it's a flat dinner plate.
Speaker GAnd then I'm going to start to rock it.
Speaker GI'm going to rock it.
Speaker GSo the front tips down and then the back tips down in the front and the back in the front and the back.
Speaker GAnd try to get that moving easily.
Speaker GI just let it happen.
Speaker GThen I'm going to rock it from side to side.
Speaker GI want it right and left, right, left, right, left, right, left.
Speaker GAnd what you want to feel is you should get equal motion right and left and pretty much equal motion up and down.
Speaker GYou're in.
Speaker GThis is a pretty small movement.
Speaker GYou just go, okay.
Speaker GI can feel that.
Speaker GIt's all, it's all, it's all working.
Speaker GNow what you're going to do is you're going to start to slowly, you're going to lift your tail, curl your tail under so your pubic bone will come up.
Speaker GAnd you're going to start to slowly roll up one bone at a time, basically to, I'm going to say the bottom of your ribcage again, not really far.
Speaker GAnd then you're going to slowly lay it back down.
Speaker GSo you want to start to be able to get some spinal mobility.
Speaker GA couple things are happening there.
Speaker GYour hips are getting motion, your all your spine is getting motion, your lumbar is getting motion, motion.
Speaker GThen what you want to be able to do, and I think this is a great, great, great exercise for riders from that upper position.
Speaker GSo now your buns are up in the air.
Speaker GYou want to try to keep your ankle and your knee in alignment and just tap your right bun down and lift it up, and then your left bun down and right, left, right, left, right, left.
Speaker GSo, so if you think about it again, when we're riding, our legs, in a perfect world, stay still.
Speaker GAnd even on the side of the horse and our bottoms, our pelvis follows the motion of the horse, right.
Speaker GAnd more than likely you'll go, oh, it's a lot easier to get my right bun down as opposed to my left or whichever.
Speaker GAcknowledge that and know that you have to work.
Speaker GAcknowledge that your upper body is going to stay still when you're doing this right, because that's just in the position you're in.
Speaker GSo I think that's a fantastic exercise.
Speaker GIt's simple.
Speaker GAnybody can do it.
Speaker GYou don't need any special equipment.
Speaker GYou don't need to go to the gym.
Speaker GYou can, you know, be in any clothes, and you can work on this.
Speaker GI think it's absolutely a super one to do.
Speaker CAwesome.
Speaker CI think when you come to my farm next, I want you to show me how to do that.
Speaker CMy next next question was going to be, well, I just wanted to share with everybody.
Speaker CYou also take people off the horse and you have a ballamo chair, and can you tell us about that really quick?
Speaker GYeah, sure.
Speaker GSo Eckert miners developed this Balamo chair, and if you envision a little stool, I can change the height of it, but a little stool that sits on, like a big ball bearing, so there's no flat place on it, it can move 360 degrees all over the place, and it is set up to help people learn, again, proper pelvic movement.
Speaker GSo you can sit on this chair and push forward and back and forward and back.
Speaker GAnd I always, whenever anybody first gets on it, I warn them that it will buck you off.
Speaker GSo you need to be very, very careful.
Speaker GPeople don't believe me.
Speaker GAnd I've caught many, many a person, many, many a person from, like, falling off of one of them.
Speaker GBut again, it really helps explain.
Speaker GIt is.
Speaker GWell, it's not funny when you say, yeah, don't do it, but it really does start to, again, re explain to your body all the ways your body could move when you were two and three years old.
Speaker GWe don't do this stuff.
Speaker GYou know, we're in a very linear world.
Speaker GWe walk forward and back.
Speaker GWe don't twist a lot.
Speaker GWe don't go side to side.
Speaker GBut again, to be a great athlete, your body has to be able to do that.
Speaker GYou know, I'm old enough.
Speaker GI'm old enough to know.
Speaker GThink of what my favorite athlete of all time is.
Speaker GMichael Jordan.
Speaker GI'm not even talking about a rider.
Speaker GBut if you watch that body in motion, the way it can move and react, and it's graceful, it's athletic, it's a wonderful thing to see.
Speaker GAnd I'm not saying that I could ever be Michael Jordan, but there is in us, and I truly believe this, because I have come back to that, that everybody has that innate little child ability to move, and we can find it again.
Speaker GAnd that's what's so exciting about record.
Speaker GSo then, to go back to Megan's question, one of the things that I do in a clinic was, I love to have auditors, because I like people to really find their eye.
Speaker GI want them to go, oh, yeah, I see what she's saying.
Speaker GI see how this is affecting x, y and z.
Speaker GAnd we'll look at somebody and say, so what do you see here?
Speaker GWhat's stiff, what's not working well?
Speaker GAnd I will get the person off the horse.
Speaker GI might do acupressure on them.
Speaker GI might do a little mini massage.
Speaker GI might put them on my Bellamo chair.
Speaker GI might get them little exercises.
Speaker GI might teach them to skip, which is a great way to teach people how to canter.
Speaker GPeople who can't canter probably can't skip.
Speaker BCheck it out.
Speaker GI know, I know, I know I'm right.
Speaker GAnd then we'll, and then we'll put them back on the horse.
Speaker GAnd we watch the horse go.
Speaker GAnd over a course of 45 minutes, I might get somebody off four or five times.
Speaker GThe horse is standing around most of the time, right?
Speaker GWe're not working on the horse.
Speaker GBut over those 45 minutes, the horse will get better and better and better and better and better and better, simply because the rider is letting loose, usually letting loose things loose of things.
Speaker GSo that again, they swing through the right hip and the left hip equally.
Speaker GWaist is of equal size.
Speaker GTheir occipital joint, the pole is working.
Speaker GTheir Achilles tendon isn't tight and rigid.
Speaker GSo if you have a tight Achilles tendon, the motion can't, the movement, the energy can't flow through your body.
Speaker GWe're going to look at all of that stuff.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker EI love it.
Speaker BI love it.
Speaker BWell, this is so cool.
Speaker BJennifer, if our listeners have questions and want to find you online, how do they do that?
Speaker BThis is such great visuals and such great information.
Speaker GYeah.
Speaker GUnfortunately, I have a really hard last name and all my stuff is under my last name, so.
Speaker GBut anyway, I'll give it to you.
Speaker GSo my website is jennifer cotillo.com.
Speaker Gso it's jennifer.
Speaker GJ e n n I f e r.
Speaker GHere's the hard part.
Speaker GCotillo.
Speaker GK o t.
Speaker GYdehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe so jennifer.com, i also have a facebook page.
Speaker GYou can messenger me if you want.
Speaker BAnd good stuff.
Speaker BI'm gonna, I'm gonna work the buns.
Speaker BThe right down, left down.
Speaker BI'm gonna try that tonight.
Speaker BThat was awesome.
Speaker BSo thanks so much.
Speaker GIt's fun.
Speaker GIt's really, it's really good.
Speaker GAnd it will help your lower back, too.
Speaker GSo.
Speaker GAnd here's the other thing about what I do.
Speaker GI do it for horse or horse people, but all the stuff I do is good for every body.
Speaker GNot everybody, but everybody.
Speaker GSo anyway, well, thank you so much.
Speaker CThank you, Jen.
Speaker BWell, Megan, we wish you and everyone else that are going to the regional finals, there are a couple happening this week and a couple happening next week.
Speaker BWe wish you luck.
Speaker BI'm not going to lie.
Speaker BI'm glad I'm done and staying home, but I'm wishing you guys luck.
Speaker BAnd as always, you can find our show notes and links to today's guest on our page@horseradionetwork.com.
Speaker Bdot Search dressage radio show like us on Facebook.
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Speaker BMy website is Maple crestfarmky.com and my.
Speaker CEmail is reeceorsradionetwork.com and my website is lindenhoff.com.
Speaker Cand my email is lindenhof llcmail.com.
Speaker Cwe'd like to thank our friends and show sponsors, Kentucky performance products.
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Speaker Ckeep on kicking on until the next show.
Speaker CTalk to you soon.